IDEF08 Develop: Innovation
Nov 27, 2008 Articles
A couple of weeks ago I attended the IDEF Develop Symposium at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. During this event I had the opportunity to listen to various speakers from different branches of the entertainment industry. These speakers hailed from groups such as Pixar, Google, Microsoft, as well as Australian names like Infinite Interactive and Primal Clarity, and many of the topics discussed brought about numerous insights into their inside view on the direction of the entertainment industry in Australia. Although the topics are often discussed from an Australian perspective, I feel that some of the points raised are certainly applicable to any company globally.
What a company needs to succeed
It is often difficult to define what success is. However, when naming successful companies, it is often extremely easy to throw out names like Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Dreamworks, Disney, Microsoft, Apple etc. So what is it that these companies have done in order to have secured themselves as a successful group set apart from others?
Steve Fawkner, of Infinite Interactive (Puzzle Quest, Warlords), thinks what Australian game companies need to succeed is “Original IP”, on which he elaborates on quite some length. He believes that while the Australia games industry was on par internationally with its peers overseas, it has settled into a complacent state where companies seem to be content
with working on licensed titles, or working as contractors for other companies. Indeed a couple of speakers seem to come from these particular demographic; iLoura had worked on minor portions of Charlotte’s Web and The Bank Job, while Paul Van Gaans is a freelance animator.
Another couple of points which were highlighted was a “skills shortage”, Australia’s geographical location and the current “Economic Hiccup”.
Of course, how does a company invent original IP if it lacked in the area of innovation?
Google’s Tony Keusgen talks about “Innovation at Google”, during which he discusses the principles that are upheld at Google, in order to breed innovation within itself. Multiple examples include GMail, Google Labs, and also Google’s efforts to index Video content. I am sure many people are also familiar with Google’s “Slack Time” policy, which allows its employees 1 day a week to devote to a project of their choosing.
From that, it is quite obvious to that innovation is a big factor in the success of a business, especially in a volatile industry such as the entertainment industry. The symposium was definitely organised to emphasise that point, as there was also much focus on independent entities, or indies (such as Primal Clarity), to highlight the fact that with some innovation and resources, it is possible to achieve success to some degree.
It was unfortunate that Bluetongue was not present, as their recent work De Blob shows great promise, and it would have been great to listen to any insights they could have provided.
Tags: Develop, IDEF, innovation, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Symposium
Leave a Reply